It’s current residential portfolio includes over 15,000 homes across Europe and the UK with an additional 3,400 units under construction and a combined total value of almost €6.5 billion.

ASI is the investment arm of Edinburgh-based Standard Life Aberdeen. It manages assets of about £557.1 billion, making it the largest active fund manager in the UK and one of the largest in Europe.

The expansion of the asset manager’s residential property business is already underway with the successful launch this year, and second close last month, of the first pan-European residential property fund of its kind.

The Aberdeen Standard Pan-European Residential Property Fund (ASPER) launched with an initial investment of €355.5 million from eight investors in the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Switzerland in March 2018.

It has since completed a second close in October that raised a further €42.7 million of commitments from investors in Ireland, South Korea and the Netherlands.

The total equity raised since the fund launched now stands at €398.2 million with the intention being to reach €1.5 billion in assets under management over the medium term.

The successful launch of ASPER, and other funds in Europe, and the planned increase in residential property investment is part of an ambitious plan launched last year by the asset manager to double its total real estate assets under management from the current level of €49 billion by 2025.

Aberdeen Standard Investments co-head of real estate Pertti Vanhanen commented: “The success of ASPER is a sign of the progress that we are making on our strategy.

“It’s been clear for some time that demand for quality rental property is outstripping demand in European cities.

“We were not alone in spotting that trend but the scale of our business and depth of our experience has allowed us to create a really compelling product for our clients.

“A big part of our strategy is to strengthen our presence in Europe by launching new products and winning more mandates. ASPER is helping is deliver on that element of our six part plan.”

Aberdeen Standard Investments co-head of real estate David Paine commented: “Our other aims are to build on our strong UK market position, organic and inorganic growth opportunities in direct real estate in both Asia Pacific and the Americas and the growth of our real estate multi-manager and listed REIT strategies.

“We are also working with our colleagues supporting real estate debt strategies and multi asset products such as the upcoming launch of the Global Sustainability Trust.”